Thursday, February 28, 2008

In spite of campaigns past when the Democrat party would complain about the Republican party drawing excess money over that of the Democrats, this election cycle it is the Democrats who are raising massive donations.

From the latest data supplied by the Federal Elections Commission, the Democrat presidential campaign has drawn some $70 Million more than the Republicans have. The dollar amount being donated to Democrats in the top two brackets, $1000 to $1999 and over $2000 bracket is nearly double that of the lower income brackets.

The Clinton campaign said, “It’s an extraordinary number for us, $35 million in February alone.” Obama’s campaign officials said that their total was “considerably more” than the $35 million that Clinton’s campaign announced.

The New York Times refers to these donations as an “unprecedented sum.”

Indeed, the Democrats must be doing something right to finally exceed the Republicans, who Democrats have traditionally claimed had the wealthy and corporate bosses in their pockets.

Most remarkable in this ease that the Democrat party is raising record sums of money is that these are the same Democrats who for years now have been telling us how bad off America is, the economy’s failed and stagnant, people are being turned out of their homes, jobs are drying up, businesses are failing and all sorts of economic doom and gloom.

“Our current economic downturn is hurting all Americans… We are asking for Republicans to work with us. Every day they delay is another day Americans continue to suffer; every day they stand in the way is another day Americans wonder if they will be able to stay in their homes.”

“We are not standing on the brink of recession because of forces beyond our control. This was not an inevitable part of the business cycle.”

Nearly every other Democrat has come out with some condemnation or warnings of the failure of our economy, suggesting and passing legislation to send out tax rebates to “stimulate the ‘stagnant’ economy.”

The price of gasoline is feared to exceed $4 a gallon as oil prices rise over $100 a barrel.

Food and staples are rising as well, keeping Americans from eating healthy.

We are told we can’t get sick because of rising medical costs and millions cannot afford health insurance.

In most news reports, all we hear is how bad off we are and how dire the situation for America is. We are led to believe the economy is nearly the worst it has ever been.

Yet, in the midst of all this doom and gloom and exceedingly bad news for America, somehow the Democrat party is able to draw in record amounts of donations far exceeding past performance and the opposing party.

One wonders if others in the Democrat party haven’t learned how to draw massive dollars out of minimum wage workers as well.

Fiddler's Green is the happy land imagined by Cavalry Troopers and Sailors, where there is perpetual mirth, a fiddle that never stops playing and dancers who never tire. It is where our brothers find peace that may have eluded them in life.

Viet Nam Cavalry Troopers speak well of those who move on to Fiddler’s Green, knowing that all too soon, we may be joining them. But, when one chooses to travel there it is a shock and a sad time for all.

One such friend, a fellow Air Cavalry Trooper I never met in person, but knew by exchanging comments on a website for aging Viet Nam Veterans of the 7/17th Air Cavalry Squadron, recently made that choice, taking all by surprise.

Most shocking was his final post on another Veterans site,

“Do ya ever just get tired of living life in general???? Beginin' ta think what the fuck??? I've done all there is to do...Hard to come up with a reason to wakeup in the morning....would be nice to seeGrandpa and Grandma....also Lt. Fitzgerald, Cpt Powell and all the others.................................. Gary”

Before any could reach out or contact him, he was gone; he took his own life.

What drove him to this we may never know. Depression? Nightmares? Memories? Just tired of it all? We don’t know.

He was a big-hearted guy that thought of others more than him self. Once, someone was willing to give away an older 23-foot boat to anyone who wanted it. He was willing to drive over a thousand miles to retrieve the boat and tow it home to repair and fix up so others who visited would have a boat to cruise around in. He was talked out of that.

To most this will be soon forgotten, ignored or they will never hear about Gary. He is just another statistic in the ongoing compilation of numbers being used by sides in the battle over America’s involvement in the war against terrorists.

Suicides of Veterans has been making news of late, the Washington Post claiming just a few weeks ago that it is at Record Levels.

“the suicide rate among 45-to-54-year-olds increased nearly 20 percent from 1999 to 2004, the latest year studied, far outpacing changes in nearly every other age group.”

The Times adds,

“Veterans are another vulnerable group… Those most affected are not returning from Iraq or Afghanistan, he said, but those who served in Vietnam or right after, when the draft ended and the all-volunteer force began.”

Of the ‘why’ of the increase since 1999, the Times quotes Dr. Eric C. Caine, co-director at the Center for the Study of Prevention of Suicide at the University of Rochester Medical Center saying, explaining why suicide in the middle years of life had not been extensively studied before,

“There’s a social-bias issue here. There is a national support system for those under 19, and those 65 and older, but not for people in between, even though ‘the bulk of the burden from suicide is in the middle years of life.’”

Myrna M. Weissman, the chief of the department in Clinical-Genetic Epidemiology at New York State Psychiatric Institute adds,

“One possible reason… [is] the growing pressures of modern life, like the changing shape of families and more frequent moves away from friends and relatives that have frayed social support networks.”

“No matter where in the world they live, people who are young, single, female, poorly educated or mentally ill are at higher risk of suicide.”

Matthew Nock, Harvard University researcher writing in the British Journal of Psychiatry said,

“Our research suggests that suicidal thoughts and behaviors are more common than one might think, and also that key risk factors for these behaviors are quite consistent across many different countries around the world. Across every single country we saw there was a significant increase in suicidal thoughts during adolescence and young adulthood.”

Returning to the New York Times article, we are reminded,

“The lack of concrete research has given rise to all kinds of theories,” with Dr. Caine adding, “Without a ‘psychological autopsy’ into someone’s mental health, we’re kind of in the dark.”

Suicide isn’t a new phenomena, it’s been around since the dawn of time. The increase is an unknown, apparently, but being used to further agendas and sell newspapers and increase ratings of news programs. Perhaps that is adding to the increase by bombarding people with even more stories of helplessness, I don’t know.

I only know that I have lost another friend and a brother and gained another hole in my heart, wishing I could have said or done something to prevent his death.

Gary isn’t the first and I’m afraid he won’t be the last. Suicide is a very permanent solution often to a temporary problem. He is at peace now, but his family and those that cared about him are not, all wondering why and if they could have done better.

Maybe, just maybe, if we all interacted more with each other, used ATMs, online services and self serve facilities a bit less, we could relearn that we are on this earth together and we need each other.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Senator John F. Kerry, who failed in his 2004 bid for the United States presidency, is facing an impressive challenge for his Senate seat from retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, Jim Ogonowski.

Kerry, known for his “War Hero” claims that were exposed as largely false by the Swift Boat Veterans and POWs for Truth in 2004 and for his anti-war activities after an abbreviated tour of duty in South Viet Nam, is being challenged in the upcoming election by Massachusetts farmer and retired Lt. Col Ogonowski, who’s brother was the pilot on one of the airplanes high jacked and flown into the World Trade Center buildings on September 11, 2001.

Ogonowski, who served his country for 28 years in the Air Force, has announced he ready to go “head to head” with Senator Kerry this November. Even though he lost a close battle for the 5th Congressional District seat to Democrat Niki Tsongas in October, Jim Ogonowski cites low approval ratings for the Democrat led Congress and a desire to “change the way Washington does business” as his reasons for announcing his challenge against Kerry, who has held the office since 1985.

Kerry, whose presidential bid floundered due to his inability, or reluctance, to respond to the charges brought by the Swift Boat Veterans group, hasn’t faced a serious challenger since 1996 when defeated former governor William Weld.

David Wade, of the Kerry campaign said,

“John Kerry brings to public service a lifetime of fighting the tough fights for change and standing up with courage and conviction, and he’ll keep doing that in the United States Senate”

Ogonowski said,

“Kerry doesn't live here. You don't see him on the streets of Boston, of Worcester, of Lowell, of Pittsfield… Washington's broken, and there's no one in Washington who represents the status quo more than John Kerry… We need someone who represents the working-class people of Massachusetts.”

Although Kerry has a huge advantage over Ogonowski in campaign money, there is still the unanswered charges against Kerry brought by Viet Nam Veterans and the recent discovery of US Army documents that discredit the 1971 Winter Soldier Investigation that Kerry largely drew his disreputable “testimony” to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations that same year from.

The newly discovered documents, sitting in the National Archives for several years, reveal the Army CID’s (Criminal Investigation Division) summary of the 43 investigations conducted pertaining to the charges brought by ‘witnesses’ in the Winter Soldier Investigation and reported to the Senate by Kerry.

Of those 43 investigations, 25 participants refused to cooperate, 13 provided information but failed to support the allegations, and five could not be located, revealing the scope of disinformation Kerry presented to the United States Senate.

Ogonowski will have an uphill battle as Massachusetts is a heavy Democrat State, but there is no limit to the evidence available to be used against Kerry during the campaign.

If Republican Ogonowski is able to unseat Democrat Kerry, it will be a major boon for the Republican Party, hit hard by scandals and assaults from the Democrats these past few years.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

She is a very accomplished and intelligent woman who not only achieved the classic American Dream, but also greatly exceeded it. Yet, she stands before audiences today with a huge chip on her shoulder imagining she is downtrodden because of her race.

She was accepted at Ivy League Princeton University in the early 1980’s, partly through Affirmative Action, but mostly as a “legacy” due to her older brother’s attendance at Princeton. She majored in Sociology with a minor in African American Studies, writing her Senior Thesis on “Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community”

Attending Harvard Law School after Princeton, she put her energies into recruiting black undergrads to Harvard Law from other schools and she took part in demonstrations demanding more minority students and professors.

Growing up in Chicago’s predominantly Black South Shore, she enjoyed a modest two parent family upbringing along with her brother in a one-bedroom apartment. She and her husband and two daughters now live in a $1.6 Million Dollar Georgian revival Kenwood mansion.

Her father, even though afflicted with Multiple Sclerosis in his 20s, went to work every day for Chicago’s Municipal Water Department and was a Democrat Precinct Captain. He took pride in the accomplishments of his two children, especially her brother whose talents with basketball and high grades earned him a scholarship to Princeton, eventually gaining him the position of Head Basketball Coach for Brown University.

Her mother, a stay at home Mom, also helped support the family with a Secretarial job at Spiegel’s. Of the upbringing their parents gave them, her brother once said,

“Without being immodest, we were always smart, we were always driven and we were always encouraged to do the best you can do, not just what's necessary.”

Even though she skipped Second Grade, she wasn’t quite at the top of her class. Not getting the attention of her School’s College Counselors, as did her brother, didn’t hold her back. Even though some of her teachers thought her grades and test scores wouldn’t get her into one of the Ivy League Colleges, she was accepted at Princeton University, graduating cum laude in 1985.

From there she amassed quite an impressive resume, graduating Harvard Law School, a former associate dean at the University of Chicago a vice president at the University of Chicago Hospitals and sitting on six boards, including the prestigious Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools.

It was during her time in College that she wrote in her Senior Thesis,

“Princeton made me far more aware of my ‘blackness’ than ever before.”

She continued,

“I have found that at Princeton, no matter how liberal and open-minded some of my White professors and classmates try to be toward me, I sometimes feel like a visitor on campus, as if I really don't belong,” and “Regardless of the circumstances under which I interact with Whites at Princeton, it often seems as if, to them, I will always be Black first and a student second.”

Earlier she wrote that she was,

“determined to utilize all of my present and future resources to benefit [the black] community first and foremost.”

Yet she also wrote,

“As I enter my final year at Princeton, I find myself striving for many of the same goals as my White classmates -- acceptance to a prestigious graduate or professional school or a high-paying position in a successful corporation. Thus, my goals are not as clear as before.”

In spite of living in a mansion and earning a six figure income, not to mention her husband is also an accomplished professional also earning six figures, US Senator and leading contender for the presidency of America, she says their student loans weren’t paid off until 2004, 16 years after graduation and they “can finally live comfortably,” adding,

“The cost of education is ridiculous. We find that young people give up their dreams because they don't have the money.”

Before an audience in Greenville, South Carolina, she says that her husbands books are the only reason they recently got out of debt, in spite of both earning nearly one half million dollars a year, money rightfully earned due to their education and hard work. Yet, she tells the same crowd,

“We know what we need to do with public education because there are thousands of excellent public schools all over this country. We know what they look like, we know what they cost. Our problem is that they only exist for the fortunate few.”

Does she include herself and her husband as “the fortunate few?”

Speaking before an audience at USC earlier this year, she told the students,

“Who I am is from how I was raised, growing up with working-class parents. The lens I see life through is from my childhood.”

That childhood included being allowed only one hour of television a night. She and her brother were expected to fill their time with books, chess, sports and dinnertime conversations with their parents.

“I wake up every morning wondering how on earth I am going to pull off that next minor miracle to get through the day. I know that everybody in this room is going through this. That is the dilemma women face today. Every woman that I know, regardless of race, education, income, background, political affiliation, is struggling to keep her head above water.”

“To provide a good education for all children and universal health care, people will have to give something up for the greater good.”

Just what is to be “given up” remains unclear. But, how do you ask people you describe as “struggling to keep their heads above water” to “give up” anything? One wonders if she is willing to sacrifice her $1.6 Million Dollar Georgian revival Kenwood mansion?

Instead of touting the possibilities available when someone does work hard and strives to improve themselves, she advocates making the path easier. She acts as if she is unappreciative of the breaks she received, possibly over more qualified candidates and instead sees herself as a “victim” of some prejudiced society that blocked her efforts. It is possible that “victicrat” mentality is what led to her recent, “For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country,” gaffe.

Could she feel she’s “a pitiful figure buffeted by hostile forces, whose only hope for survival is to return the hostility, and to band together with others like herself ("the Black community") for mutual aid, all of them in a hostile posture to the out-group,” as one writer describes the “victicrat” mentality?

In her senior thesis mentioned above, she complained about the “liberal students and faculty leaving her feeling like an outsider,” yet today she advocates the very liberalism she felt slighted by in college instead of the hard work and strong family structure she was taught from childhood.

Perhaps, realizing she had been given help getting into an Ivy League College like Princeton, she felt less than others because they had to earn their way in. Even though it was through Affirmative Action and being a legacy that she was admitted to Princeton, she worked hard and accomplished what the majority of American's, White or Black, can only dream of. She has failed to see that Affirmative Action only got her in the door and the rest she worked hard to achieve herself, like so many others have.

Nothing in life worth having really comes easy and to want to give others an easy road sets them up for the same chip she has, not appreciating their own accomplishments because of the perception they didn't earn them. Not every one struggling to be successful will make it, that’s just life and all we have been guaranteed is the opportunity to try.

As educated and successful as Michelle Obama is, she can't see the very Liberalism she advocates is the chip she carries on her shoulder.

If you buy into that story about them struggling to pay off student loans for 16 years, while buying and moving into a $1.6 Million mansion, I have some ocean front property I can sell you down in Oklahoma.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

In a fundraising email sent out this week, Illinois Senator Barack Obama has accused his opponent, Senator Hillary Clinton, of “Swift Boat Style Tactics” in an obvious misuse of the term that became popular after the 2004 defeat of Democrat John Kerry.

The campaign email makes note of ABC’s report on the group American Leadership Project, set up to promote Hillary Clinton, but prohibited from coordinating with her campaign.

“The so-called "American Leadership Project" will take unlimited contributions from individuals and is organized the same way as the infamous Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Groups like this are forbidden from working primarily for the purpose of electing or defeating a candidate.

This raises a number of legal and ethical issues, but more than anything it reveals an attitude towards politics as a game that is played to win at all costs.

Americans are ready for change. We are tired of Swift Boat-style groups and smear campaigns.”

The Senator’s email seemed to cautiously and conspicuously avoid criticizing another well known group, Moveon.org, a group set up to promote Democrat’s

The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth were a group of over 250 Highly Decorated Viet Nam Combat Veterans exercising their constitutional right to organize against a candidate they felt Unfit for Command due to their time served either with the candidate or his anti-war actions committed after an abbreviated tour and were comprised of members of all political persuasions. Contrary to common perceptions, they were neither affiliated with the GOP as a group nor supported President Bush as a group.

They were later joined by former POWs (Prisoners of War) who had their own bone to pick with Senator John F. Kerry. The POW group included two recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor, America’s highest award for Valor in Combat.

The term “Swift Boating” became popular after Senator Kerry’s defeat in the 2004 election, largely credited to the actions of the Swiftboat Veterans and POWs for Truth with the defeated Democrats desperately trying to associate the term with political smear tactics. That inappropriate use and smear of these Highly Decorated Combat Veterans is what is really “Dishonest and Dishonorable.”

Far from a smear tactic, Swiftboating a politician aptly means: swiftboat - vt. To reveal the essence of a defective person. To shine truth on a lie or lies. To reveal an inconvenient truth a politician desires to keep hidden. swiftboat-ed, swiftboat-ing.

Thanks to the bravery of these aging Veterans, America was saved from a political opportunist occupying the White House.

Senator Obama and the Democrats should be deeply ashamed for their actions taken to smear such Honorable Veterans. If the Junior Senator from Illinois feels smeared perhaps a more appropriate term would be “Clintonized,” as the dirty tactics of the former first couple are widely known.

America’s Veterans, the same Veterans Democrats constantly remind us they support so much, deserve better then to be continually smeared for exercising their own constitutional rights, rights they fought for others to have as well.

The State Bar of Oregon today dismissed an appeal of a complaint filed against Governor Kulongoski by Radio Host Lars Larson that Governor Kulongoski knew about former Oregon Governor Neil Goldschmidt’s sexual abuse of a teenaged girl.

Governor Kulongoski has steadfastly denied any knowledge of the sexual improprieties of the former governor and Transportation Secretary in the Carter Administration for some time. Goldschmidt confessed in 2004 to having had sex repeatedly with his then 14 year old babysitter while he was the Mayor of Portland, Oregon, some 29 years earlier.

Goldschmidt rescued Ted Kulongoski from the political graveyard in 1986 and the two have been very close, raising eyebrows of just how much did Kulongoski know of his mentor’s past and kept quiet.

Fred Leonhardt, speechwriter for former Governor Goldschmidt alleged in a 2004 Oregonian story that he and Kulongoski discussed Goldschmidt’s sexual abuse of the 14 year-old years before Goldschmidt was chosen to run Oregon's university system by Kulongoski.

Five others interviewed by the Oregonian corroborated Leonhardt’s allegations.

In October 2007, radio personality Lars Larson filed a complaint with the Oregon State Bar to investigate whether Governor Kulongoski knew of the abuse and failed to report it to the proper authorities before it came to light.

The Bar rejected the initial complaint saying,

“Kulongoski was credible in his denial that he had not heard about the abuse until just before it was reported in newspapers.”

Larson appealed saying,

“that contradicted the bar's conclusion that Leonhardt also was credible when he claimed he told Kulongoski about the abuse years before it was reported publicly.”

General Counsel to the Bar, Sylvia Stevens said in a letter written to Larson,

“given the directly contradictory accounts of the parties and the total absence of any other evidence, I cannot conclude that there is sufficient evidence to form a reasonable belief that misconduct may have occurred.”

Accusing the Bar of trying to sweep the matter under the rug, Larson said,

“They have decided not to investigate to find out if it is indeed true or not.”

Stevens said that Larson had not produced any additional witnesses to wrongdoing on Kulongoski’s part adding in regards to Leonhardt’s memory of the events,

“it is indisputable that memories fade with time and that two people can walk away from the same conversation with very different ideas of what was said.”

Anna Richter Taylor, spokesperson for Kulongoski said,

“This is the outcome the governor expected. He's pleased to continue the work the citizens of Oregon elected him to do.”

Ms. Taylor also said it was

“time to move forward,”

very reminiscent of other prominent Democrats caught with their pants down around their ankles in the past.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Breaking news on the Drudge Report, CNN and Fox News, Fidel Castro says he will not return as President of Cuba. No immediate details posted yet, but it is known the ailing dictator has been suffering from ill health for some time.

As details emerge, what news will this be for Cuban citizens? Will they regain the freedom they lost when Castro's hordes overthrew Batista in 1959?

Will refugees throughout South Florida celebrate and return to see families they left behind?

In the meantime, unless his replacement is his brother Raul, reportedly more ruthless than Fidel, this is hopefully good news for Cuba.

BBC reports on this historic event. According the BBC report, Castro wrote in a letter,

"I neither will aspire to nor will I accept, the position of president of the Council of state and commander in chief."

"To my dear compatriots, who gave me the immense honor in recent days of electing me a member of parliament ... I communicate to you that I will not aspire to or accept ... the position of president of council of state and commander in chief."

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Senator McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee for president in 2008, after 8 years of “reaching across the aisle,” undermining conservatives, is soon to see his efforts come to fruition as his new “friends” begin scuttling his presidential aspirations.

McCain, thought of as a “quasi-liberal maverick” by many on the right expressed in a 2005 interview that he “absolutely” wants to be president adding,

“because I think I’m qualified to help make the world a better place.”

Throughout the past eight years Senator McCain, presumably disappointed at losing the 2000 bid for the presidency to George W. Bush, showed his “qualifications for making the world a better place” often by abandoning his own party and crossing the aisle, at times initiating, to further the liberal Democrat agenda.

Now that Senator McCain has all but wrapped up the nomination, barring a catastrophe, the realization of his need to embrace conservatives, if he hopes to win in November has become apparent. His move to the right hasn’t gone unnoticed by those on the left who praised him earlier in the campaign.

If the Senator expected those he continually sided with against conservatives to give him a pass in the 2008 election, he is about to receive a very rude awakening as Democrats, emboldened by their sweeping win in 2006 and hoping for a repeat in 2008, not only to grab a stronger portion of Congressional power, but the White House too, have begun speaking out against the Senator too.

“In 2000, John McCain called the late Reverend Jerry Falwell and his ilk ‘agents of intolerance.’ In 2006, the ‘straight-talkin’ maverick’ lovingly embraced Rev. Falwell and delivered a touching commencement address to the graduating class at Falwell's ‘Liberty University.’”

“In 2004, when the ‘Swift Boat Veterans for Truth’ were in full slime mode against Senator John Kerry, smearing his war record as a Navy Lieutenant in Vietnam, the "war hero" and fellow Vietnam veteran John McCain did not come to Kerry's defense other than in the most understated and perfunctory manner.

I must inject here that the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth were a group of over 250 highly decorated Viet Nam Combat Veterans exercising their freedom to organize against a candidate they felt Unfit for Command due to their time served either with the candidate or his anti-war actions committed after an abbreviated tour and were comprised of members of all political persuasions and contrary to perceptions, were neither affiliated with the GOP as a group nor supported President Bush as a group.

Palermo finishes with,

“John McCain was too busy hugging and kissing George W. Bush to make an issue out of it. What does that tell us about the ‘hero's’ character and integrity?”

“the straight-shooting, let-the-chips-fall-where-they-may maverick - is no more. He's been replaced by a born-again Bushite willing to say or do anything to win the affection of his newfound object of desire, the radical right.”

If the Senator felt at one time his embracing the left on core issues was going to help propel him into the Oval Office this election, he is sadly mistaken. Little by little, as he is assured the nomination they desired for him to receive, they will be turning on him in favor of who they really wanted all along, a liberal Democrat to help wrest control of the nation into their Socialist hands. Senator McCain, you have been little more than a ‘useful idiot!’

From Politico, Jeanne Cummings informs us Gloves off: The Dem plan to hit McCain as she outlines the plan the Democrats probably will use to stomp McCain’s aspirations into the ground and propel the Democrat candidate into the White House.

Senator McCain made a “deal with the devil” and now the devil has come for his due. Perhaps the Senator will stand up to the left and tell them to just calm down a little bit, as he did to conservatives.

I doubt we will see either John Kerry or Hillary Clinton return the compliment to him that he paid them in the past when he said they would make “good presidents.”

Hang on Senator; you ‘ain’t seen nothing yet!’

UPDATE: Disgraced former Four Star General, Wesley Clark has joined in the condemnation of Senator McCain.

“If you don’t think John McCain is just as dangerous in the White House as George W. Bush, think again.”

Thursday, February 14, 2008

A Domestic Terrorist group, patterned after the Animal Liberation Front, successfully closed down a long established Furrier in Portland in 2006. Emboldened by the success of their tactics, they are now targeting another taxpaying business in Portland.

Just days ago, February 4, 2008, a notice was posted at Portland Independent Media Center, a favorite online gathering place for Portland’s leftist shills. The notice said:

Portland made history with the shutting down ofSchumacher furs, but there is still much more work to be done. We must continuethe fight and let others know that we will not tolerate fur stores in our city.

The store is only open from the the hours of 10am to 1pm on Saturdays solets all get out there!

Nicholas Ungar Furs1137 SW Yamhill St(spelling errors uncorrected)

Schumacher Furs, established and operating in Portland, Oregon since 1895, started coming under fire from the Animal Rights group back in 2005. Protesters picketed the business, blocked the entrance, often jeering at customers, sometimes near nude, with obscenities and threats.

Pleas to the Police Department and to the City of Portland fell on deaf ears, with the Police seeming to side with the Domestic Terrorists at time, ignoring it all at other times.

Portland Police Bureau Central Precinct Cmdr. Dave Benson once sent an email to the City Commission suggesting the business should move. Benson’s email said,

“Actually, one of the solutions is for them to relocate to a boutique type of mall. In that setting the owners will probably be able to lawfully control the protests inside the mall and keep it outside on the sidewalk. The protesters would quickly lose interest. The Schumacher’s won’t like that solution, either, but they may not have much of a choice.”

City Commissioner, Randy Leonard contacted the Furrier saying he believed they were partly to blame for the situation. Leonard’s email to the Schumacher’s said they had

“disregarded police advice to temporarily close their store on Saturdays and have instead argued with the protesters and mocked them with signs posted in their store windows.”

“Neither the police bureau nor my office can assist you if you are not willing to accept our advice on a strategy that helps us help you cause the protesters to lose interest in targeting your business,” Leonard wrote.

Leonard then posted on the city’s web site,

“I have come to the conclusion that the Schumacher’s have chosen this path as a method of generating free advertisement for their business.”

Portland’s Mayor, Tom Potter once suggested the Schumacher’s “sit down and negotiate” with the protesters, something the Schumacher’s felt was unnecessary, as they were entitled to Police Protection from harassment for conducting a legal and legitimate business.

The business received little support, the main exception being local radio host, Victoria Taft on her evening program and blog site. By December 2006, the fourth generation Furrier had had enough and announced closing their doors.

A suit filed in federal court against the City of Portland and three Animal Rights Groups was subsequently dismissed, with the Schumacher family being ordered to pay the legal fees of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals; In Defense of Animals and a protester. Said Judge Michael Mosman,

“[the lawsuit] was an extraordinary abuse of the litigation process and threatened free-speech rights.”

Now, these same people have targeted another Furrier, Ungar Furs, in Portland. Said one Protester calling themselves ‘the mink,’

“Bring your signs, bullhorns, costumes, and a desire to SHUT THEM DOWN! Bring down anything and everything that you think could help get the message accross that we will not tolerate such a disgusting business in our town!”

In discussing this newly called for protest with a supporter calling himself 'jonny,' the Bible was injected as evidence of the wearing of furs being against our Christian God’s desires for man and beast. Said 'jonny,'

“God gave animals to mankind for his use (Genesis 1:26-30; 9:1-4). But, this does not mean that humans have the right mistreat animals and the environment (Also in King James).

God has no Delight in Sacrifices. There can be no doubt that God wanted humanity to elevate itself above such barbaric practices, for the Prophet Hosea says: "They love sacrifice, they sacrifice flesh and eat it, but the Lord has no delight in them." (Hosea 8:13) Referring to animal sacrifices, God Himself says through His Prophet Isaiah: "...I will hide my eyes from you: yea, when you make your prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood...put away the evil of your doings from my eyes; cease to do evil." (Isaiah 1:11-16)”

Mention by this writer that in the Bible, God gave Noah all of the animals on earth for meat (with some exceptions), drew the expected rebuke from 'jonny' of,

“You can keep trying to tweak the Bible to Justify it but unless you need to kill the animal to wear its fur so that you don't freeze to death, It is considered a sin. You people really need to think about how your actions affect the world around you. Forgive me for saying this, but you all seem to be relatively uneducated and express an unwillingness to learn. A little sociapathic too, based on your lack of empathy for little creatures. I am not going to walk you through the entire Bible to show all the reasons why causing unnecessary suffering of God's creatures is wrong. I suggest counseling.”

Stone silence has come from 'jonny' since this writer quoted Genesis 3:21

“Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.”

Last I heard, the Garden of Eden wasn’t well known for its freezing weather.

If the treatment of Schumacher’s is any indication, Ungar’s Furs is in for a rough ride until they close their doors also. Activists anonymously boast of their vandalism and the City of Portland, located within the third largest fur production state in the Union, shoots themselves in the foot.

The City of Portland, Oregon, struggling to out do more notorious Leftist Cities on the Left Coast will most likely offer scant support, if any, to a taxpaying business engaged in a legal business within a city already losing businesses at an alarming rate.

It is little wonder that former President George H. W. Bush once referred to Portland as "Little Beirut" due to the protesters he encountered here.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Tensions between America and her European “allies” reportedly are growing as Defense Secretary Robert Gates calls upon Europeans to do more in helping in war torn Afghanistan in the ongoing struggle to defeat Al Qaeda led terrorism.

Secretary Gates has expressed his frustration that repeated requests for “the allies to contribute more troops, and to allow commanders to use them with fewer restrictions,” continue falling flat.

An article from the Associated Press appearing on Military.com discusses the increasing tensions as Secretary gates prods Europe to help out more in the fight against terrorists.

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), set up with European nations after World War Two to counter Soviet aggression, is currently in charge of the war, although it falls upon America to supply the majority of the Troops used currently in Afghanistan. US Army General Daniel McNeill, the top Commander in Afghanistan requested more Troops to fight terrorists who have begun increasing their activities. NATO member Nations continue to stonewall on sending more Troops, even though since September 11, 2001, terrorists have been targeting them instead of the US.

In efforts to undermine the Bush administrations prosecution of the ongoing war, Democrats began labeling it “the Forgotten War.” Senator Hillary Clinton, in a December 2003 speech said,

“Let me turn now to Afghanistan, a place I believe we have not paid sufficient attention to in recent months. And by "we," I refer to all of us, citizens, the media, elected officials, the administration. And this point was crystallized for me when I was greeted by a soldier saying, ‘Well, senators, welcome to the forgotten front line of the war against terror.’”

He then laments about how efforts need to be increased in Afghanistan, Iraq needs to be abandoned and such, but neither calls upon our NATO allies, the same allies they demanded be included in the first place, to increase their commitment.

Former NATO commander Gen. James Jones, in a study published the Atlantic Council, "Saving Afghanistan" said,

“If NATO cannot provide new forces to fight in the south, its credibility will be dealt a powerful blow, throwing into doubts its future cohesion and hence viability.”

“It has long been clear that Europeans, especially Britons, could be attacked at any time. The attacks in Istanbul in November 2003 (57 dead) and the train bombings in the Madrid suburbs on March 11, 2004 (191 dead) were only the beginning. "No country," says EU counterterrorism coordinator Gijs de Vries, "can nurture false hopes of being safe." German Interior Minister Otto Schily, who flew to London on Friday to meet with his British counterpart, warns that "radical Islamists have also explicitly named Germany as an enemy."

Just a couple years ago, Paris France erupted in rioting, largely claimed to be the work of Radical Muslims. An article from Council of Foreign Affairs told us in 2005,

"Radical Islam is spreading across Europe among descendants of Muslim immigrants. Disenfranchised and disillusioned by the failure of integration, some European Muslims have taken up jihad against the West.”

Radical Islam is the sect that produces the terrorists that act to force others into accepting and living under their radical and oppressive beliefs.

While it might seem advantageous to avoid Afghanistan and concentrate on the security of their homelands, wouldn’t their forces better be marshaled in keeping terrorism away from the homeland in the first place?

In spite of small coalitions being formed, Democrats have long faulted for President Bush for his “unilateral approach” in the War on Terror. Handing Afghanistan over to NATO, at the behest of many who claim Afghanistan is the “real War On Terror,” seems to be failing.

In America and in Europe many falsely believe radical Jihadists can be “reasoned with” to stop attacking the west. These people turn out in droves to protest Military action against those who will stop at nothing to kill our society. Perhaps they are the reason NATO nations are so reluctant to increase the effort to defeat terror.

Should the fight in Afghanistan fail and NATO fall apart, who will they turn to when radical Jihadists, freshly trained and equipped from rebuilt bases in Afghanistan and quite possibly Iraq, should America’s anti-war crowd succeed, begin terrorist attacks anew to subjugate the masses under another Taliban Rule of Horror?

Sunday, February 10, 2008

In spite of ongoing protests against our Troops and political candidates desiring to stop their efforts, our Troops in the Iraq Theater have made miraculous gains towards achieving Victory, even though we are constantly told how over stretched they are.

The New York Times has treated us to a series of articles labeling our brave Troops as having a strong potential for murderous activities after being subjected to war with the series, “War Torn,” Part One and Part Two. Just how the Troops will be trashed in successive articles remains to be seen.

Within days of the invasion of Afghanistan to unseat the Taliban and deny Al Qaeda a place of respite, we started hearing of the War on Terror being a “Viet Nam Style Quagmire.”

When General David Petraeus, newly installed overall Commander of our Troops in Iraq, came to Washington D.C. to deliver the congressionally mandated report on the situation in Iraq last September, Democrats, in their usual hostile manner, questioned his honesty often as he tried to deliver a true assessment of gains being made after President Bush’s Troop Reinforcement was implemented. Both current presidential candidates grandstanded before the general’s testimony as they grilled him, making statements like that of first term Senator Barack Obama,

“Changing the definition of success to stay the course with the wrong policy is the wrong course for our troops and our national security,” and “I have to say that, based on your testimony, it is not clear to me that the primary success that you've shown in Anbar has anything to do with the surge.”

“Don’t you think the American people deserve a very specific answer about what is expected from our country in the face of the failure of the Iraqi government and its failure to achieve its political agenda?”

She also delivered her well-publicized assessment of the general’s testimony with,

“I think that the reports that you provide to us really require the willing suspension of disbelief.”

On and on it has gone ever since shortly after the horrific terrorists attacks against our soil on September 11, 2001. Most Democrats have continued to paint a bleak picture of our Troops efforts and those of the president. To them, everything has been a failure, lulling American citizens back into the false sense of security that was prevalent prior to that fateful day. Willing accomplices within our more mainstream media have almost gleefully joined in with spreading the Democrats disinformation.

Every once in a while, though, our media slips up and allows a bit of truth about the successes of our Troops efforts in Iraq to slip out to the public. Today they did just that. After all the talk for so long of “quagmire,” “failures” and need for a “change of direction” in the war effort, news of our Troops discovery of a diary of an insurgent in retreat was published along with excerpts from that diary.

The diary, written in neat Arabic script is the work of an unknown Abu Tariq, Emir of al-Layin and al-Mashadah Sector where in over 16 pages, he detail’s the demise of Al Qaeda in his sector. Claiming he once over 600 terrorists, he now says he down to 20 or less. Tariq is especially critical of “the Sunni fighters and tribesmen who have turned against al-Qaeda in Iraq and joined the U.S.-backed Sunni Sahwa, or “Awakening,” forces,” as he penned,

“We were mistreated, cheated and betrayed by some of our brothers. We must not have mercy on those traitors until they come back to the right side or get eliminated completely in order to achieve victory at the end.”

The diary details weapons and the few tribal leaders still at his disposal, as well as financial means they use to acquire cars, trucks and other weapons. One unnamed Military official stated, upon supplying copies of the diary to the media,

“It is important we get our story out. I firmly believe the information part of this conflict is as very vital as the armed element of it. . . . We don't want to lose that to al-Qaeda.”

Perhaps his fears would better be placed on our own media and the majority of the Democrat party, especially the current front-runners in the race for the presidency, vying for political control of the country again who would use any opportunity for political gain, even the safety of our country and the people.

Although the diary only represents one sector, it does show the immense gains made since President Bush set in place the Troop Reinforcement policy led by General Petraeus, originally demanded by many Democrats, only to be opposed once implemented.

Thursday, February 07, 2008

There is no simple easy answer of who conservatives should vote for. We surely do not want Hillary or Obama in, but are we so sure a McCain presidency would really be that much better? Are conservative votes once again being taken for granted?

He speaks of continuing the fight in Iraq, but what good is it if he grants amnesty to illegals and closes Gitmo, bringing terrorists upon our soil, thereby granting them full constitutional rights and I'm sure bringing out the ACLU who will no doubt line up to defend and free them all to roam around America?

McCain who opposed the Bush tax cuts because, "I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us at the expense of middle-class Americans who most need tax relief," and now claims, "I disagreed when we had tax cuts without spending restraint."

McCain who helped John Kerry bury the MIA/POW issue with a full accounting, which resulted in a cousin of Kerry's gaining a multi-billion dollar contract for constructing a deep sea port in Vung Tau. (coincidence, I'm sure).

Can we trust him to appoint strong conservative judges, after his undermining their appointments with his "gang of 14" and saying of Judge Alito, "he wouldn't appoint justices like Alito because he wears his conservatism on his sleeve?

Conservatives have 5 decades of caving to Moderates and helping elect presidents simply because they wore the "R" behind their name. One president was truly conservative, Ronald Reagan, and the party today seems to be fleeing from his programs while embellishing his name.

McCain made a very eloquent speech today, February 7, but he didn't specifically address any actual area where he has abandoned conservatives in the past.

I do not desire to see a Democrat administration, but don't see a big difference with a McCain administration either. Will he stand up to Democrats or reach across the aisle and cave, as in the past?

Like many conservatives, I haven't made up my mind what to do in November. But, I do know that demands and guilt trips laid out to scare me into voting for a RINO will not work. It will only entice me to not vote at all.

Talk radio pundits keep saying it is up to candidates to get their message out on their own and "break out." McCain came from far behind to the front with the help of Liberals, not conservatives. Now, it is up to McCain himself to "break out" to conservatives and earn our votes.

Aging Democrat Representative from Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District, John Murtha, known for his anti-war stance towards the current Republican led war, still demands the Troops be withdrawn, even though he admits the ‘Surge’ has been working.

Representative Murtha said today that he is preparing legislation that would give President Bush the war funding he wants this year, but on the condition that troops leave Iraq by the end of the year.

Murtha, chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee and feeling confident he has the necessary votes to pass his proposed spending bill, and who has no trouble packing bills with needless pork, said he will propose that the House vote this March on the spending measure, asking for other conditions on the Troops funding besides a mandated withdrawal date.

Other Democrats have indicated they desire to wait to hear from General David Petraeus, Commander of U.S. Forces in Iraq, before approving the funding. Murtha indicated he doesn’t want to wait for General Petraeus before starting his next round of anti-war legislation.

Said Representative Murtha,

"What I told General Petraeus is you can't continue to spend money like he's spending it over there. The public is fed up with it."

Murtha, once named in a lawsuit brought by United States Marines that he accused them publicly of having "killed innocent civilians in cold blood," once took an unusual step in clarifying his earlier comment that he felt the “surge was working,” after having said he felt “most encouraged by changes in the once-volatile Anbar province, where locals have started working closely with U.S. forces to isolate insurgents linked to Al Qaeda.”

Informed that his earlier proposals of a Viet Nam style bloodbath likely would occur should he win his withdrawal demands, Murtha simply replied,

"Many have threatened that there will be chaos, a bloodbath, when the United States redeploys from Iraq, and this in fact may be the case. If they continue to choose to spill blood, it will not be on the conscience of the United States."

If America suffered another devastating terrorist attack after his proposed retreat, whose conscience he would consider that one?

Since the Democrat Party assumed power in January 2007 and Rep. Murtha assumed the helm of the House defense appropriations subcommittee, funding for our Troops in harm’s way has been toyed with by Murtha in order to force a withdrawal of Troops, even though there were clear signs of their winning and the Troop Reinforcement, more commonly known as “the surge” was achieving remarkable success.

Failing in that endeavor, he proposed Troops funding be held in two month increments, with Congress caving in December and funding quarterly, leading to this latest round of funding votes.

Asked if they felt supported by the American public, a dozen or so Troops in Iraq replied “yes,” with helicopter pilot Chief Warrant Officer Mary Rone adding it was ‘superficial.’

"I think sometimes soldiers feel like possibly people back home are not thinking about it, and I think that's the biggest form of not supporting, is forgetting what's going on,” said CWO Rone.

In May 2007, a petition of nearly 3,000 signatures from American Troops was delivered to Congress basically begging them to support the Troops efforts in Iraq who desire to finish the job they started, believing they have made a difference and desiring to defend America from further attacks as we saw on September 11, 2001.

Apparently, Representative John Murtha has decided to ignore the very Troops he claims to support in their defense of America.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Ever the political opportunist, Massachusetts Democrat junior Senator, John Kerry, went on MSNBC last evening to blame yesterday's tornadoes that caused death and devastation across the south on Global Warming.

Even though rescuers hadn't finished sifting through the destruction and body counts had not yet been finalized, Senator Kerry wasted no time getting on TV to promote the Global Warming Agenda by linking the tornadoes to the issue without any evidence of such.

“[I] don’t want to sort of leap into the larger meaning of, you know, inappropriately, but on the other hand, the weather service has told us we are going to have more and more intense storms. And insurance companies are beginning to look at this issue and understand this is related to the intensity of storms that is related to the warming of the earth. And so it goes to global warming and larger issues that we’re not paying attention to. The fact is the hurricanes are more intensive, the storms are more intensive and the rainfall is more intense at certain places at certain times and the weather patterns have changed.”

Roger Edwards, a meteorologist from the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla., said in 2007,

“As of this writing, no scientific studies solidly relate climatic global temperature trends to tornadoes. I don’t expect any such results in the near future either, because tornadoes are too small, short–lived, hard to measure and count, and too dependent on day to day, even minute to minute weather conditions.”

Perhaps this claim of Global Warming causing increased tornado activity is much like the Senators infamous memory of the Christmas he spent in Cambodia, building his "war hero" status, as President Nixon was denying our presence there in 1968, a month before he was even President, that was "seared, seared" into Kerry's memory.

Words from Heroes To Heroes. Do No Harm, Especially to Yourself

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Consequently...

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